


If I Kiss You, Will You Go Away?

by snapealina



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 16:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6058182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snapealina/pseuds/snapealina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Severus and Remus are forced to work together in a Potions project. <br/>(Old trope, I know, but that's what it is)</p>
            </blockquote>





	If I Kiss You, Will You Go Away?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Fantasy Fest in LJ community lupin_snape in 2010.
> 
> Prompt: 5. “If I kiss you, will you go away?” No dark!fic or unhappy ending.
> 
> Disclaimer: Can I own them, pleeeeeaaaaaase? No? Oh well... guess I will just have to keep dreaming. But JK, if you change your mind, you know where to find me ;)
> 
> Thanks to everyone in the lupin_snape chat for good help and inspiration. Especially big thanks goes to azure_rosa for the beta and awesome cheerleading!!! I could not have finished this without you!

“Severus, wait up,” Remus Lupin called after the thin, black haired boy.  
  
Severus stopped and sighed. “What is it now, Lupin?”   
  
Avery and Rosier looked at him sceptically. “What does _he_ want? Does he think he can just tell you what to do? The filthy Prefect Gryffindor?”  
  
Severus merely shrugged.  
  
“Severus,” Remus panted as he caught up with the three Slytherins. “Can I talk to you for a second?”  
  
Severus rolled his eyes and looked apatheticly at his two friends. “You two just go ahead. I will deal with this mutt. It will take about... four seconds, I think.”  
  
The other two Slytherins laughed and walked away.  
  
Severus and Remus watched them go around the corner before Severus turned abruptly to Remus.  
  
“What do you want you filthy fleabag?”  
  
“Can we go somewhere and talk?” Remus asked carefully.  
  
“No we cannot 'go somewhere and talk'. There is nothing I want to talk to you about!”  
  
“But Severus, I'm so sorry.” Remus started to reply, but Severus ignored him and began to walk down the corridor to get away from him. Remus followed.  
  
“I'm sorry, Severus! I just wanted you to know that I had no idea he was going to do that! It was just Sirius being stupid, and believe me, we've told him. I didn't know, I swear!”   
  
Severus stopped. “So what if you didn't know what that bloody moron was up to! Do you think that I will just forgive and forget that easily, Lupin? You almost killed me!”  
  
“I know, and I'm sorry,” Remus said sincerely.  
  
“Stop repeating yourself, Lupin. It is getting quite boring.”  
  
“I'm sorry!” Remus reiterated, making Severus roll his eyes.  
  
“I want nothing to do with you.” Severus stated, then he leaned in and whispered in Remus' ear. “Damned wolf!”  
  
He turned around and strode off down the corridor, leaving a sad looking Remus behind.  
 

***

  
  
“Well, class. Get started.” Slughorn told his class and sat down at his desk.  
  
Severus started to locate all the ingredients he needed for the assignment and fired up his cauldron.  
  
“Excuse me, Professor Slughorn.” Severus heard a well-known, annoying, voice speak.  
  
“Yes, Mr Lupin,” said Slughorn.  
  
“Well, Lily is at the hospital wing with Dragon pox, so I don't have a partner.”  
  
Severus froze. His usual partner, Mulciber was absent as well, and Severus' entire body clenched. He did _not_ want to work with Remus Lupin!  
  
Slughorn looked around the classroom and smiled as he saw Severus sitting alone at his table.   
  
“Ah... Mr Snape. You can partner up with Mr Lupin.”  
  
“But Professor,” Severus began. “Lupin's potioning skills are so poor it will hold me back.”  
  
“Nonsense,” said Slughorn. “You will just have to teach him then. Maybe you can learn something from the experience as well.”  
  
“Like I will ever become a teacher,” Severus muttered.  
  
Remus Lupin on the other hand, looked quite excited and hastily picked up his things and moved forward to Severus' table.  
  
“So, partner.” Remus beamed. “What shall I do?”  
  
“We are _not_ partners!” Severus snarled. “You can read, can't you?” Severus merely pointed at the blackboard where the instructions were written.  
  
“Of course,” Remus answered. “Thank you for doing this, Severus. Again, I'm really sorry about - “  
  
“I prefer to work in silence, Lupin. So shut up.” Severus said as he checked the temperature in his cauldron.  
  
The rest of the lesson passed without any of them speaking more than necessary. Lupin's task was to hand Severus the ingredients he needed and Severus did all the brewing. Severus merely pointed at the blackboard or in the textbook when he needed something. He really didn't want to give the bloody werewolf a reason to talk to him at all. He just wanted to finish this assignment and get rid of the irritating Gryffindor.  
  


***

  
  
Neither Lily or Mulciber had returned to class, so Severus was still stuck with Lupin for the next assignment also. He felt himself getting more and more short tempered, not that he had much of a patience to start with, and Lupin was getting even more impossible to work with. He kept apologizing every chance he got and didn't focus on potions at all. Severus doubted he could even stir the sugar in his morning-tea without screwing up.  
  
Still, they had both survived, no thanks to Lupin, but as they were about to start the third assignment Severus got a really bad feeling. He read the description and noticed that it was not humanly possible for one person to make this potion alone. Three ingredients had to be added from separate angles at the same time while stirring. That acquired more sets of hands than Severus had, and he didn't dare to use a spell for adding the ingredients either. Slughorn would probably be on his neck at once, giving him poor marks for not including his “apprentice”. Severus had no choice but to actually talk to Lupin to get him to focus on the subject, and that would mean another one of his bloody apologies.  
  
“Lupin,” Severus mumbled quietly.  
  
Remus Lupin turned his head towards him with a big smile on his face. “What is it, Severus?”  
  
Severus cleared his throat. He really didn't want to do this.  
  
“I'm so sorry, Severus-” Remus began.  
  
“I know, I know. Will you give it a rest?” Severus hissed. “I really want to finish this potion and I can only do it with your help, so if I call some sort of truce, will you _please_ focus on what you are supposed to do?”  
  
Remus' face lit up. “Does that mean you forgive me?”  
  
Severus shrugged. “If we're forced to work together, we might as well be civil. If not, you might end up _really_ killing me this time.”   
  
“Oh, Severus, thank you so much!” Remus almost threw himself around Severus' neck, but the other wizard managed to dodge so Remus nearly fell to the floor instead.  
  
Remus sat back up on his chair, a little confused from the near-fall.  
  
“If you can't focus, Lupin, the deal is off.” Severus sneered.  
  
Remus nodded. “I promise.”  
  
He saw that Lupin tried to stay calm, but that did a little jump of joy on his way to get the rat spleens. Severus sighed. What had he gotten himself into?  
  


***

  
  
Somehow, Severus and Remus managed to get through Potions with no injuries. Severus sighed with relief when he handed the potion in to Professor Slughorn who smiled widely when he saw that his star-student once more had gotten the right colour and consistency of a complicated potion.  
  
“Well done, Snape and Lupin,” Slughorn beamed, then he lowered his voice. “Of course I have to test it first, but I think the two of you can count on an 'O' in this project.”  
  
Remus Lupin almost fell to the floor. “Me? An 'O' in Potions?”  
  
Severus on the other hand, tried to seem as apathetic as possible. Getting an 'O' in Potions wasn't unusual for him, but he couldn't help but feel extremely relieved, and a bit proud, to manage it with such a bonehead for a partner.  
  
The class stormed out of the classroom on the way to their next class but Remus grabbed a hold of Severus before he could disappear.  
  
“This is all thanks to you, Severus,” Remus smiled.  
  
“I know,” Severus merely mumbled.  
  
“I mean it. If it wasn't for you, I would never have gotten an O. Thank you so much!”  
  
“Whatever,” Severus said and turned to walk to his Arithmancy class.  
  
To his great annoyance, Lupin followed him.  
  
“What are you doing, Lupin?” Severus stopped abruptly. “Why are you following me?”  
  
“I'm sorry, I forgot.” Remus smiled embarrassed and ran in the opposite direction to his Tranfiguration class.  
  


***

  
  
Severus walked into the potions classroom on Monday morning and saw, to his great relief, that Mulciber was back in his old seat. Severus nodded curtly to the boy and sat down next to him.   
  
“You are back, I see.”  
  
“Yeah, I was only in the hospital wing with a sprained wrist, but caught the freaking Dragon Pox from that Mudblood Evans.” Mulciber spat.  
  
Severus winced. He hated that word, and was just about to tell Mulciber to stop calling her that when he saw Remus Lupin walk into the room.  
  
The scruffy boy was smiling as he walked through the door, but his smile vanished and his jaw dropped as he saw Mulciber sitting in what he obviously, and mistakenly, thought was his new seat.  
  
Severus smirked. He was finally rid of him.  
  
Lupin sat down next to Lily, who immediately started talking to him.  
  
Severus turned to face the blackboard and felt relieved. Things were finally back to normal!  
  
Slughorn strolled into the classroom and placed his things on the desk.  
  
“Good morning, class,” he grinned. “Ah, I see our two lost students have returned at last.” He nodded at Mulciber and Evans. “Dragon Pox, was it?”  
  
Mulciber nodded and scowled in Lily's direction. Lily merely responded by sticking out her tongue like a seven-year-old girl.  
  
“It's great to have you both back, but I think I would like a bit of change in this class.”  
  
Severus' heart stopped. This wasn't good!  
  
“I think a change of partners can do you good. Snape and Lupin, the two of you managed to produce some excellent potions last week, and Evans, I think you can without doubt teach Mulciber a thing or two about chopping techniques.  
  
“But Professor,” Mulciber objected. “Snape here is perfectly capable of helping me with my chopping.”  
  
Slughorn laughed. “Oh, I know he is, but I think that a change of partners will do you all good. You could use some influence from students from other houses.”  
  
Lily, Mulciber and Severus immediately started to object to Slughorn's impulsive decision, but when Severus glanced back through the classroom, a certain Gryffindor couldn't look happier.  
  
Severus sighed. He knew it had been too good to last.  
  
Mulciber moaned loudly, grabbed his things and left to go to the back of the classroom to Lily.  
  
Lupin was already standing by his place, eagerly waiting for the Slytherin to give up his seat.  
  
Luckily Slughorn had prepared a lecture and written assignments, so Severus didn't have to speak to his new and regular lab “partner”.  
  
“Oh, isn't this great, Severus?” Lupin gushed at the end of the lesson.  
  
“Shut up, Lupin.” Severus hissed.  
  
“Now we can get to know one another better, partner.” Lupin nudged him.  
  
“Don't _ever_ call me partner! And don't you _ever_ touch me again.” Severus looked livid.  
  
“Sorry...” Lupin muttered.   
  
“I have no intentions of getting to know you. Why would I want that?” Severus threw his things into his bag.  
  
“Why not? We'll be working together for the rest of the school year, maybe we'll even become friends.” Lupin's voice was full of hope.  
  
“Friends? Never!” Severus stated firmly and looked at the annoying werewolf.  
  
“Why not? I think it's very petty to not wanting to be my friend or even get to know me just because I'm a Gryffindor.” Lupin sounded hurt, but Severus took that as a small victory.  
  
Severus snorted. “It isn't because you are a Gryffindor. It's more because you're _you_...”  
  
“What have I ever done to you, Severus?”   
  
“HAH!” Severus couldn't believe his own ears.  
  
“Oh...” Lupin looked embarrassed at the ground.  
  
Severus threw his bag on his back and left the room.  
  
“Well, we still have to work together!” He heard a voice call after him.  
  
To Severus' big frustration, he still had to find a way to work together with the bloody mutt and he reluctantly agreed on meeting with Lupin for one study session a week. Two if the project was really hard or time consuming.   
  
For weeks Severus only talked to the other boy only when he absolutely had to. He simply pointed at the textbook or ingredients and used one-word-phrases like “stir”, “stop”, “NOW”.  
  
Lupin started off with babbling about his other homework and his Gryffindor friends. It took him three study session to take the hint that Severus wasn't talking to him. After that, they worked mostly in silence.  
  
The weeks went on like this for a while, but after two months Severus started to find that Remus wasn't _quite_ as hopeless in Potions as he thought. It turned out that when he put his mind to it, and someone explained it to him in a way his puny brain could handle, the boy wasn't half bad. Severus also found that he suddenly had began to talk to the werewolf like a semi-normal person.  
  
Severus was actually getting quite used to the whole “working with the werewolf” situation. One day he suddenly realized that he was actually smiling vaguely at the other boy's lame attempts of jokes. When he noticed that, he was careful to drop a snide remark regarding Lupin's lycanthropy.  
  
Lupin, who had been beaming and quite good at potion making that day, suddenly dropped a tray full of ingredients to the floor, and looked hurt.   
  
Crisis averted, Severus thought. He wouldn't want Lupin to think he had any right to become friendly with him.   
  


***

  
  
The next weeks passed just like the last one. Whenever Severus felt Lupin was getting too friendly, and got Severus to slip up for a moment, he threw him a remark, tearing every bit of hope in Remus' mind down.   
  
One day, however, Severus noticed that nothing seemed to bother Lupin anymore. His remarks didn't have the effect they once had. Hell, Lupin even began using them about himself.  
  
“Stupid fleabag!” Severus heard Lupin whisper to himself whenever he did something wrong and when Severus tried to call him that, Lupin merely smiled.  
  
This annoyed Severus to great extent. Now what was he supposed to do? He wasn't and would never be Remus Lupin's friend. He wouldn't even be on a first name basis with the boy!  
  
Remus Lupin, on the other hand, had other plans. Because Severus was now sure the boy was following him. No matter where he went, Lupin had a tendency to _conveniently_ show up. The only places he was left alone were in the Slytherin common room and his dormitory.  
  
Lupin wasn't directly clingy, he just “happened” to always be there. And always with the same stupid grin on his face.  
  
“Oh, Severus, fancy meeting you here.” Oh, how Severus loathed that sentence. He now merely scowled at the werewolf before walking away, but it didn't take Lupin long to show up at his next destination. How did he do that? Severus was getting annoyed.  
  


***

  
  
One evening Severus was going to the library to find a book on transfiguring a stickbug into a match. He almost relied on “bumping” into Lupin either on the way to, or in the library, but when he got there, the werewolf was nowhere in sight. Severus looked out of the window and noticed the full moon. Finally! Severus smiled. He enjoyed the fact that he finally seemed to get a moment's peace while doing research for his homework.  
  
Sadly for Severus, peace didn't last very long.  
  
“Hey, Snivellus.”   
  
Severus turned around and saw James Potter and Sirius Black standing there eyeing him.  
  
“Well if it isn't King Potter and his trusted lapdog.” Severus spat. “Have you two finally found the way to the library? Let me show you around. These are called books. You can read them. Oh, I'm sorry, _some_ people can read them.”  
  
“Knock it off, Snivellus,” Sirius Black said and grabbed the chair next to him. James Potter grabbed the one on the other side, trapping Severus between them.  
  
“So spit it out.” Potter began. “What have you done to him?”  
  
“Done to whom?” Severus had no idea what they were talking about.  
  
“You know perfectly well ' _whom_ '.” said Black.  
  
“I have no idea what you two mongrels are talking about. Now get out of my face, I have work to do.” Severus grabbed his book and got up from his seat, only to be pushed back by Sirius Black.   
  
“Sit down, you're not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on. What do you want with him?”  
  
“Who?”  
  
“Remus of course.” James said angrily. “We never see you guys apart except when you're sleeping.”  
  
“And that is somehow _my_ fault?” Severus looked searchingly at the other two.  
  
“What have you done to him? A spell? Love Potion?” Black began.  
  
“Love Potion?!” Severus almost chocked from laughter.   
  
“Don't pretend to be innocent, we know you must have done something to him. The poor boy is completely smitten with you.” said Potter.  
  
“He's not!”  
  
“He is too!”  
  
“Not that we understand why,” Black added. “So what have you done, Snape? Make it stop immediately!”  
  
“I haven't done anything!” Severus argued.  
  
“Liar! You take whatever spell or potion you have off of him, or you will regret the day you were born!” Sirius Black's eyes were dark and livid.  
  
“I don't have time to sit here and listen to your nonsense,” Severus hissed back. “You can tell your little friend to stop following me!”  
  


***

  
  
Could it be true? Could there really be something to what Black and Potter had said? Was that the reason Lupin seemed to pop up everywhere?  
  
During their usual study session that week, Severus began to notice small, weird things Lupin was doing. “Accidentally” bumping into him when they had to pass each other, always brushing his hand when they were taking turns stirring, and of course the typical pretending to look everywhere else if Severus suddenly looked at him.   
  
Severus was beginning to worry that Black and Potter might have been right about Lupin. They were however completely wrong about _him_. Severus had done nothing to encourage this, had he? Had he sent mixed signals to the boy? Had he been too friendly?   
  
Nah... he couldn't have been. He had been treating the boy like crap whenever Severus had felt things got too friendly between them. Yet something had obviously happened which Severus had no control over.  
  
Severus didn't mention a word to Lupin or his friends, but was extremely amused by the looks Black and Potter sent him during next morning's Potions class. Severus even encouraged their anger by pretending that whatever Lupin said was highly interesting and pretending to touch him whenever Black and Potter was looking. Never so that Lupin noticed, of course. He didn't want to land himself in even deeper trouble.  
  
Severus chuckled to himself as Black and Potter dragged Lupin out of the classroom when Slughorn dismissed the class.  
  


***

  
  
“Severus?” Severus Snape almost jumped three feet in the air when he heard the familiar voice behind him on his way to his common room.  
  
“What are you doing here, Lupin?” he hissed. “Shouldn't you be up in your tower and not down here with us dark ones.”  
  
Lupin laughed. “Oh you've always amused me, Severus.”  
  
“Amused? That's a first!” Severus muttered. “Go back to where you belong, Lupin.”  
  
“No!” Lupin said firmly.  
  
“What do you mean, no?” Severus asked.  
  
“You are a smart guy, Severus. You know what 'no' means.” Lupin smiled. “I'm not going away this time.”  
  
“And why is that?” Severus rolled his eyes.  
  
“Because I know that deep down you don't want me to go.” Lupin took a step closer.  
  
“Of course I want you to go, you filthy fleabag.”   
  
Lupin laughed, calling him names obviously did not have the effect it once had.  
  
“You could have fooled me earlier.” Lupin grinned.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Don't pretend that you don't know.” Lupin continued. “I know James and Sirius have been talking to you about me, and I know that you know what I think of you.”  
  
Severus was getting really uncomfortable.   
  
Lupin continued to talk. “And after today's potions class I knew it was time to do something about it.”  
  
“I don't think it's necessary to do anything, Lupin. Get away from me.” Severus said and pushed him away.  
  
Lupin chuckled. “It's obvious you want the same things as I do, Severus.”  
  
“I think Nifflers have stolen your brain, Lupin. Where in the world did you get that from?”  
  
Lupin smiled and stepped closer. “Don't think I didn't notice the hints you gave me in class today, Severus. James and Sirius saw them too. They tried to keep me from going to see you tonight, but I told them to fuck off.”  
  
Lupin was standing dangerously close now and Severus could feel his breath on his neck. He needed to get away!   
  
Severus squirmed away from Lupin and started to walk further down the corridor towards the dungeons.  
  
“Where are you going, Severus?” Lupin called after him and Severus heard him follow.  
  
“I'm going to get one of my housemates to pinch me, because, apparently, I'm having a nightmare.”  
  
Lupin laughed again. Severus wished he would stop doing that. Nothing he said seemed to go through to the werewolf.  
  
“Stop it, Lupin and go away!” He said angrily.  
  
“Come on, Severus. Don't tell me you haven't enjoyed our time together and that you haven't thought about it.” Lupin smiled.  
  
“Thought about what?”  
  
Lupin was dangerously close again. “About kissing me, of course.”  
  
“Kissing you? Are you completely mental? I'm not kissing you.”  
  
Lupin didn't seem to believe him, and this frustrated Severus even more. He had to admit that spending time with with the boy hadn't exactly been a suffering experience, and he had at times even, Merlin forbid, enjoyed it. But kissing him? The thought had never even crossed his mind. He couldn't kiss a boy, could he? And Lupin? What would people think? What would Lupin think? What would happen if he did?   
  
Severus shook his head. He was _not_ standing here considering the possibility of kissing Remus Lupin. It was just not happening!  
  
“Are you completely sure, Severus?” Remus Lupin was apparently not going away easily.  
  
“Of course I am!” Severus stated. What did the bloody werewolf think?  
  
“Have you ever been kissed, Severus?” The boy continued, undeterred by his protests.  
  
What the hell was going on?   
  
“Of course I have,” Severus stated.   
  
“By someone else than your mother?” Lupin added.  
  
Severus swallowed. “Of course,” he lied.  
  
“By another boy?” Lupin prompted.  
  
Severus didn't answer but took a step back, buying himself a little more time. What the hell was he going to do?  
  
“Fine,” he suddenly said, making Lupin stop abruptly and look bewildered.  
  
“If I kiss you, will you go away?” Severus asked, hoping to call Lupin's bluff.  
  
“Do you mean it?” Lupin asked, his voice full of hope.   
  
“One kiss! If you promise to stay away from me after that.” Severus couldn't believe he was saying this.  
  
Lupin considered it for a minute. “Okay.”  
  
“What?”   
  
“I said okay.” Lupin repeated. “I promise I won't bother you again.”  
  
“Good!” Severus sighed.  
  
“Unless you want me to,” Lupin muttered, but not silently enough to keep Severus from hearing it.  
  
“Fine!” Severus said and kissed the boy quickly on the lips. “Now go away. And if you tell anyone, I will hex you back to the stone age!”  
  
Lupin laughed loudly. “That was not a kiss, Severus. I kiss my grandmother with more enthusiasm than that.”  
  
“You didn't say anything about enthusiasm, Lupin,” Severus sneered.   
  
“I demand a proper one, or I will follow you into your bedroom.” Lupin teased.  
  
“A proper one?” Severus didn't like the sound of that.  
  
“Yes, a proper one!”  
  
Severus closed his eyes and swallowed nervously. He took a step towards Lupin and slowly leaned in to the other boy while closing his eyes.  
  
As their lips touched, Lupin's hand immediately moved to Severus' head and kept it firmly in place. His lips were soft and warm and Severus had never experienced anything like this before.   
  
Suddenly Lupin opened his lips slightly and Severus felt something wet trying to let itself into his mouth. He opened up and Lupin's tongue entered him. Hesitantly, Severus started to let his own tongue meet Lupin's. The first moment of contact was weird, but Severus didn't hate it. Lupin's tongue started to massage his with slow but firm movements and Severus began matching his actions.  
  
Severus' hand absent-mindedly moved to Lupin's back, making the other boy hum into his mouth. The whole thing seemed to last forever, but suddenly Lupin drew back, sucked lightly at Severus' bottom lip and pulled away. Severus still hadn't opened his eyes when he heard the other boy sigh.  
  
He opened his eyes and looked straight into Remus Lupin's sparkling and smiling eyes. It took him a minute to get his head around what had just happened, but he put on a straight face and cleared his throat.  
  
“There! Now I can finally get you out of my life.”  
  
Lupin's smile vanished at once, and Severus knew he had hit the nail straight on the head.  
  
“Well, you kept your promise, Severus. I will keep mine. I won't bother you again.” Lupin's voice almost broke and the werewolf turned away and ran down the corridor and out of Severus' sight.  
  
“Finally,” Severus said to himself and went back to his dormitory.  
  


***

  
  
To Severus' great surprise, Mulciber was back in his old seat the next day and he kept going on and on how good it was to be back. Severus smiled politely and went along with Mulciber when he complained about having to work with a Gryffindor.  
  
Lupin was back to working with Lily and the redhead seemed to be ecstatic about this. Severus smiled when he saw how miserable and sad Lupin was looking. It seemed as he finally was rid of the damned mutt.  
  
Severus turned to his new, or old, potions partner and picked up his books. Slughorn arrived and quickly got them working on a new potion.  
  
He had never thought about how annoying Mulciber was to work with. Had he always been this stupid? Severus had to tell him what to do about everything, and he kept babbling on and on about things that Severus had no interest in whatsoever. He followed him to the next class and just wouldn't shut up. At least Lupin had learned shut up.  
  
Later that day, Severus went to the library to study. He picked up his books and just waited for the usual interruption. Half an hour later he was still sitting there alone. He finally got the peace he had longed for for months, but he hadn't written a single word on his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay. He kept looking over his shoulder for interruptions.  
  


***

  
  
Lupin continued to look miserable whenever Severus saw him in the corridors or in class. Black and Potter were their usual selves and kept doing stupid things which normally would make Lupin smile, but the bloke seemed to have lost all sense of humour.  
  
In potions class, Lily was apparently struggling to maintain her grades, as her partner didn't do anything besides forgetting to stir or dropping things. Severus found himself glancing at the back of the classroom a bit more than he should. Mulciber kept poking him and wondering what the heck he was looking at.  
  
The boy looked absolutely lost, and Severus got a terrible feeling in his gut. He had no idea things would end up like that.  
  
After two weeks of working with Mulciber and not having the annoying Gryffindor following him around, Severus realized that something was terribly wrong. He had not only messed up his potions work twice but he had not done any of the essays he was supposed to have done for homework. Besides all this, he went to bed each night feeling empty and miserable and he had big trouble sleeping.  
  
His fellow Slytherins became more and more annoying and Severus thought they were all a bunch of boneheads only interested in becoming the Dark Lord's newest pet.   
  
One Sunday night, he lay awake in his bed, not able to sleep. His stomach hurt and he felt awful. When he closed his eyes he expected to see the usual hurtful look on the other boy's face, but to his great surprise he saw the glittering, smiling, golden eyes he had seen once. He heard the well-known chuckle that once had annoyed him, but now only warmed his insides.  
  
Could it really be that he missed the little fleabag?   
  
Severus had gotten so used to having him around, and he had to admit, it really hadn't been that bad...   
  


***

  
  
Slughorn strolled into his classroom on Monday morning and called out: “Good morning, class. I've once more decided to switch your partners to encourage Interhouse cooperation. Snape and Lupin, you two seemed to work well together last time, and I would like to see that good progress continue. As for the rest of you, I will read the the pairs. Potter and Avery, Mulciber and Evans, Black and Crown...”  
  
Slughorn's voice continued to drone through the room as Remus Lupin sat down on the seat next to Severus.  
  
“I'm sorry, Severus. I know I promised to stay away, but I didn't have anything to do with this. I was the one asking to go back to Lily, I swear!” Lupin seemed completely lost and out of it.  
  
“I know.” Severus mumbled back.  
  
“What?” Lupin turned his head so fast Severus could have sworn it made noise.  
  
“I might have been _my_ suggestion to encourage the so-called Interhouse cooperation.” Severus mumbled silently with a tiny smile on his face.  
  
“But I thought...” Lupin looked at him with great confusion.  
  
Severus looked at him and smiled mischievously. “If you tell anyone, I will have to kill you, Lupin!”


End file.
